190 COLCHICUM. 



germs from the same bulb, one lower, just described, producing 

 the flower and seed, the other situated above, also furnished 

 with a stem, but seldom bearing flowers. 



Qualities and Uses.— Prosper Alpinus* states that the 

 Egyptian women fatten themselves with the Hermodactyl roots 

 that are sold in shops, eating ten every day for a fortnight or 

 three weeks, without experiencing any effect on the stomach or 

 bowels, or any inconvenience, and the true Colchicum, of which 

 we are speaking, varies greatly in its qualities. Krapf "f- asserts 

 that in Carniola, towards the end of Autumn, he has eaten whole 

 bulbs, and experienced no disagreeable effect, except an 

 ungrateful bitterness. On the other hand, it is affirmed by 

 various writers to be very acrimonious and dangerous in its 

 effects ; but these discrepancies are to be attributed almost 

 entirely to the time of year at which the bulb is dug up. Cli- 

 mate and soil have also their share of influence ; and even when 

 its baneful principle is most fully developed, by a very simple 

 process it may be divested of all poisonous properties, and 

 eaten with the greatest safety ;|;. " Like the potato, it yields a 

 white friable, amylaceous fecula, which, after repeated washings, 

 is by no means acrid. I have several times given a scruple of 

 this fecula, dried in the sun, to a domestic fowl, without the 

 slisihtest ill effect. Boiled in river water, it affords a brownish 

 jelly, similar to that of sago." § 



From the preceding remarks it is evident that the proper 

 time for taking up the bulb is just before it begins to develop 

 the flowering organs or the new germ is projected, viz., in 

 July and the beginning of August. At this time it is quite 

 solid and firm, and when cut has a creamy appearance. It 

 must also be remembered that the bulb, even when taken up at 

 the proper season, if preserved entire, is subject to the same pro- 

 cess which unfits it for medicinal purposes as though it re- 

 mained underground I ]. Dr. Thomson recommends that the 



* Med. ^gypt. p. 234—253. 



-|- In Storck contin. experim. p. 233. 



+ See also p. 26 and 99. 



§ Bergius Mat. Med. vol. i. p. 291. 



II This inconvenience might be obviated if some method could be ascer- 

 tained of destroying its vitality. Perhaps a momentary immersion in boil- 

 ing water might effect this. 



